Mint
by Illaeshin
Summary: previously known as Healer. Where in Sesshomaru finds himself in the care of a human doctor. SesshoxOC and Rin cuteness. Not a Marysue, I believe in realistic characters
1. Chapter 1

Healer

Where in Sesshomaru finds himself in the care of  
a human doctor. Sessho X OC

I do not own the characters of InuYasha(c); All  
rights and trademarks and copyrights belong to Rumiko Takahashi and  
the producers/studio that brought this wonderful series to America.

Chapter One  
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As the sun was setting over the old forest the quiet footsteps of a human could be heard making their way through the dense undergrowth. Looking over her shoulder more than once Raylea, a young girl of about 21, carefully selected the plants and herbs she would need. Normally a confident girl, she was wary this evening.

There had been a tremendous explosion earlier, one that had caused a few homes to collapse. In this area only one thing made that big of a ruckus; fighting demons. If there was an injured demon in the area, then undoubtedly it would be wanting food. Pushing her way through the bushes, she caught the distinct smell of mint.

"Perfect. I've been…needing that." She said to herself as she cleared the dense shrubs. She stopped short though upon freeing herself. She had reached the edge of the wood, the edge that became mountainous. Not only was this area extremely dangerous to humans, but the explosion from earlier had originated from up the desolate slopes.

Slowly Raylea began to back up. As her heels entered the brush, her nose caught the smell of the mint again.

""Not worth it. I'll find it elsewhere," she muttered. Then she noticed the other smell, "Blood?"

Steeling her nerve she carefully walked forward, her sandals scuffing lightly on the grey rocks. Nearing the first bend of the mountain trail, she steadied herself, ready to run at a moment's notice. Slowly, Raylea looked around the corner.

"Auh!" she gasped. A man was lying on the path, bleeding from a large gash across his left shoulder and numerous other cuts along his body. Raylea ran forward a few steps but stopped abruptly when she noticed the man's pointed ears and face markings.

"Demon…oh, this is bad…" she whispered. Hesitantly, she put one foot back, wanting to quietly leave; but as she looked at the demon's face she felt a tug of pity. He was still breathing, though it was labored. Biting her lip, Raylea inched closer. Kneeling at the demon's side she leaned close to inspect the wound. It wasn't deep, the bones didn't appear to be broken, but it was long; and bleeding.

"Hey, hey you need to wake up. You're gonna bleed to death," she said. Ignoring her better judgment Raylea reached out and touched the demon's shoulder. As she shook his shoulder she noticed the tufts of mint under his body, "That would be where the smell came from, " she muttered. She pushed gently, calling to him again, "Hey. Come on, you're going to die."

'Nothing,' she thought, 'but what can I do? I can't…oh heck.'

Looking around to see if there was anything or anyone, Raylea took a deep breath. Using the bottom of her kimono and a small knife, normally used for gathering plants, she made a rough bandage for the demon's shoulder. As she tied it her eyes fell on the sword that was lying in pieces near him. It was a broad blade, its hilt wound with red cord.

"Oh I can't believe I'm doing this," she said to the demon's pale face and slid her arm under the demon's shoulders.

"Up you get," she hissed through gritted teeth, "Just stay out till I can get you home. I'll come back for your sword later," Carefully hoisting the demon onto her back she began to stagger forward. She pulled his right arm over her shoulder and reached for his left when she realized his sleeve was mostly empty.

"What the…? Where is your arm?" she asked her unconscious load, "Oh great, this just got about twice a difficult. And might I add that this fluffy thing makes you like twenty pounds heavier." It helped her to talk to the demon, mostly it kept her calm.

He was far too long for her to care him piggy back, but his feet didn't seem to be too hurt, so Raylea just pressed onward.

It was fully dark by the time Raylea reached her small home. Breathing heavily, she could feel her legs trembling. Pushing the doors open she managed to get to her bed before falling to her knees. With as much gentleness as she could muster she slid the demon off her back. Breathing hard she crawled over to her water basin and splashed some water in her face. After gulping a few cups down she felt a little better. Standing shakily, she shut the door and locked it. Going back to the demon she arranged his body into a more comfortable position.

"Okay, mister. You had better not die on me. That was a lot of work and I won't have it wasted." She muttered as she removed the rough bandage on his shoulder and pulled out clean linens. Carefully, being mindful of the wound, she opened the demon's kimono and inspected the injury further.

"Afraid I can't do anything about your armor. I know someone who'll be able to fix your sword up, well your other sword, but armor of this type is different story." She said to his closed eyes.

Pulling various bowls and trays to her side, she quickly washed her hands and began cleaning the shoulder wound. Since he was a demon, a taiyoukai at that, Raylea figured the small wounds were superficial and would heal on their own in no time at all; so she dedicated her attention to the large gash.

Working steadily she was soon sewing the wound closed. As she worked she talked to her patient.

"Well I guess you can't help being the way you are. I think demons may be a bit more violent than humans. After all, we generally don't fight just to prove….oh wait, no, we do. We also don't…oh wait….Well, at least when we go to war we don't make mountains explode." She thought about the new similarities her talking had brought up.

Pausing, she looked at the demon's face again, then sighed, "Well, you're lucky to be what you are; how else could you have survived lying on the mountain side for most of a day with a bleeding shoulder? You also grow your teeth back in record time."

She added that last sentence as an after thought. One of the few times that the demon had opened his mouth to gasp for air, Raylea has noticed that one of his fangs was smaller than the rest of his perfectly white teeth. The moon was full in the dark sky as she continued to work.

"There," she sighed a few hours later, "That's the shoulder taken care of. You should be okay now." She gently brushed the demon's long silver hair away from his left shoulder. She couldn't know for sure, of course, but she figured the demon probably wouldn't like it if his hair got covered in blood.

Standing she stretched and began clearing away her tools and medicines. She was beginning to feel her eyes droop shut so she began talking again

"Personally I want to know what happened. Demons who can take human form are said to be the most intelligent and powerful of the race. So what in all the world happened to you?"

With the last of her tools put away Raylea pulled out a blanket and covered her patient with it. The night wasn't cold, but better safe than sorry. Yawning, the young woman was definitely feeling the effects of the last six hours. Grabbing up another blanket she went over to the other side of her house, curled up, and fell asleep.

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P A/N: Okay, so how's that? I know this has probably been done before, but I am a hardcore Sessho fan; so that's that. Thanks for reading. /p


	2. Chapter 2

Sesshomaru could tell he was indoors, he didn't need his eyes to know that. He could also tell he was lying on a bed, there were herbs of various kinds near by, and that his own blood was staining the linens wrapped around his left shoulder. His sensitive nose also told him there was a large clump of mint near b

'_Curse it all_,' the mighty demon thought, '_every time I find Naraku something like this happens._'

He had nearly summoned up the energy to move when he heard something approaching. Not Jaken or Rin, the footfalls were too heavy to be either. Sesshomaru knew he would not be able to put up a prolonged fight, not even a short fight if the approaching creature was strong.

As the door slid open the scent of mint and herbs grew stronger. But more importantly the new arrival was a female **human**.

He reacted instinctively. Sitting up he snarled, bearing his fangs as his eyes flashed red. The girl jumped back a little, much the same way Rin had when they'd first met, and, like Rin, she still approached, shutting the door behind her back as she did so.

Sesshomaru watched the girl carefully as she walked over to a small black cabinet against the opposite wall. He couldn't smell anything but the herbs, the girl's own scent, and his scent as she busied herself around the small hut.

'_My scent…?_' he thought. His thoughts were interrupted when the girl addressed him.

"My Lord, you shouldn't be moving around so much. See? You've torn your bandages." The girl's voice carried no fear or arrogance, only simple truth. Sesshomaru's golden eyes narrowed. He could smell his blood more strongly than before, but he would rather die than show weakness or admit that he needed help from a human.

"If my Lord will allow me to re-bandage his wounds…?" the girl's question sounded more like a command in Sesshomaru's ears. The girl approached him and he reflexively bared his teeth and flexed his deadly claws. The human stopped and looked at him with surprisingly intelligent eyes.

"You feel well enough to defend yourself? Very well, I have fresh linens here, and you may treat yourself."

Sesshomaru regarded the girl almost with curiosity. The girl did not turn away from his gaze, she merely met his eyes.

"Where is this?" he asked as he closed his eyes and turned away.

"My home on the western edge of the forest. I found you on the east side at the foot of the mountain. You were unconscious and bleeding. I couldn't just leave you." The girl knelt down next to the bed, setting the new bandages near his side.

"I apologize for touching you. I can see it displeases you," Sesshomaru had to wonder how she could possibly know that, "but I'm afraid it isn't in me to ignore an injured creature; no matter what it might be."

Sesshomaru didn't look at the girl, "You're generosity is wasted. I don't need your help." He kept his next thought to himself, '_Though, now I don't have to waste my energy securing a suitable recovery camp._'

The girl inclined her head to the side, "Oh? Very well then," and she stood, moving away.

Once again Sesshomaru ignored her. Tiring of sitting upright he maneuvered his pelt so that he could lie against it. Conserving the energy he would need to heal himself, Sesshomaru amused himself by listening to the girl move about preparing food.

"You probably won't eat anything I give you," the girl stated as she prepared her dinner, "Oh well, I'll make some for you anyway. After all you've been unconscious for the better part of a day. I brought you here just last evening. It's past noon and well into the afternoon."

'_The girl's voice carries a trace of bitterness concerning the food,_' Sesshomaru thought, '_I wonder why?_' He looked at the girl's back, with the slightest bit of curiosity.

As the girl talked Sesshomaru came to realize that she didn't expect him to answer. She was merely talking for the sake of talking. Closing his eyes he dismissed his curiosity and ignored the human completely.

As the sun was setting the girl addressed him again.

"I have to go to the village for something. I'll be back within the hour," she smiled happily at the stoic demon and walked out; Sesshomaru gave no notice he'd even heard her.

As the human's footsteps faded Sesshomaru opened his eyes. He could hear everything that was going on outside the small hut, the sounds of a forest at dusk. Feeling somewhat recovered the Inu-Youkai looked around for the first time. The house was simple; one room and plainly decorated. There were mats, however, covering the floor, the only patch of earth was beneath the cooking pot. The whole abode was very clean.

The only piece of ornamentation he could see was two crossed sickles over the door. The blades appeared to be made of steel. The weapons looked to be well kept, brand-new even. Sesshomaru wanted to take a closer look, but he knew that getting up was out of the question.

Near the wall opposite him stood a small black cabinet; the girl had approached it when she had arrived earlier but had not opened it. Sesshomaru could smell many herbs and mixtures were contained within. The smells were so familiar to the powerful demon he felt his curiosity peek. A faint glow emanated from his sharp claws and Sesshomaru's whip materialized. With a careful flick the end of the weapon neatly opened the two small doors of the cabinet.

Sesshomaru's eyebrow's raised a fraction. There were medicines of every kind next to various dried herbs and powders sitting on the narrow shelves. The girl was a healer of sorts. He recognized some of the instruments as well, most prominently the long needles and carefully wrapped thread. The various uses of these items were known to Sesshomaru, from the long hours he had spent watching his mother heal his father after a battle. Sitting up he moved his haori off his shoulder to inspect his wound. Due to the few hours he had spent directing his Youki to heal the bleeding had ceased. Peeling off the outer bandages Sesshomaru could see the delicate white thread woven into his flesh. With a dark look he moved to rip the stitches out, when a voice from a memory made him pause.

"If you continue to pull on those then you will take a third longer to heal!" his mother's exhausperated voice echoed through his mind. 

Settling back on his pelt he closed his golden-eyes once again. What did it matter? He would be just as well off if he left them in as he would be if he took them out. With familiar smells all around him, Sesshomaru flet his mind begin to drift and he fell into a calm sleep.

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A/N: How's that? I'm trying to use some of the generally accepted and used terms (i.e. haori, Youki) Lemme know if somethin' is spelled wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

Mint ch 3

Raylea hummed a lively melody as she walked along the dirt path, back home. The sun was setting and under the trees it was already getting hard to see. Quickening her pace the girl tightened her grip on the basket that was slung over her back.

"Leeks, carrots, rice….soup…again," she sighed, "What I wouldn't give for some pork. Ah well." Lifting her head and tossing her long hair over her shoulder Raylea smiled and cleared the last few steps to her home.

Sliding the door open as she slipped her sandals off, Raylea softly entered her small house. The demon was asleep where she had left him, and seemed to be doing better. She thought as much, since he was, after all, a daiyoukai, but still…the improvement was amazing. Setting her basket down near the cooking pot, she got a fire going and began to cook.

Sesshomaru heard the girl's approach, even in his sleep, and was awake by the time the human entered. He listened as the girl went about the house in silence. His nose told him everything she was doing. As he felt the warmth of a fire flare up his keen ears also told him that the girl was whispering to herself.

_'Must she simply always be talking? And…_' he discreetly sniffed at the air, _'There is mint again…'_ he thought. He wondered, briefly, just what the girl's fascination with the aromatic herb was. He couldn't sleep in peace with another creature around, so he amused himself by listening to the girl's whispered chatter.

"A medium soup, keep the chills off, health and vitality in this, be careful not to boil it. Ruins the flavor. Cabinet's open….did he? He hasn't moved. Oh well. Everything's in place."

She continued muttering in this fashion for some time, until the smell of her food filled the small hut and even a human would be able to smell it from the outside. Sesshomaru hadn't moved in the hour the girl had been home, only when he shifted slightly did he realize he had forgotten something. He had left his shoulder bare. It wasn't that he, a great demon, was embarrassed; no, it was the fact that it was not proper. Did not hold with his attitude, and certainly not with the girl's attitude. Deciding it would be better to move than continue in such a fashion, Sesshomaru, with the barest rustle of silk, moved the sleeve back to its proper place.

"Good evening," the girl had noticed, and in the way of humans had acknowledged the demon's change in state. Sesshomaru ignored her. Opening his eyes he didn't look at anything in particular, he simply occupied his thoughts with plans for the future.

"I know you won't eat anything I make, but I made some anyway. Just in case you feel like it." The girl began to chatter at him again. He, as always, ignored it. Something outside was moving; he could hear it. It was two humans, a male and female from the sound of it. Sesshomaru was getting annoyed with the heavy scent that saturated the small dwelling. It was impeding his sense of smell.

"There's leeks, potatoes, and mint in this…." The girl trailed off as her ears finally caught the sound of movement, "A moment please." This was said to him, but Sesshomaru guessed it was also directed towards the two outside. The girl moved quickly, drawing a screen in front of the demon so his view of the door was obscured.

Sesshomaru wondered at this, his curiosity getting the better of his train of thought, '_Perhaps she fears the humans' reaction to a demon so near?_' He listened to the conversation only to discern a reason behind the girl's actions.

"…no help for it. Yer the only one." The male sounded terse, and smelled aggressive.

"Sensible," the girl's manner was very clipped, almost superior, "Is she near?"

"Yes," another female, older than the girl, and nervous, "Just down the way."

"What kind of snake was it?" the girl moved back inside the house and grabbed something from the cabinet.

"Oh we wouldn't have come if it had been something else…" the woman wailed.

"The snake. What was the snake?" the girl's tone took a sharp edge.

"Adder." The male spoke again. Sesshomaru could smell the man's fear and anger, but also….there was deceit.

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?!" the girl nearly yelled, and the intelligent demon noted an edge of frustration and anger in her expressive voice.

"Come. Quickly. The child won't live much longer, and even then…." The girl ran from the house and slid the door shut behind her, leaving the slightly curious inu-youkai alone to speculate.

'_The girl must treat the injuries of a village…she must do so out of compassion'_ he snorted, '_She obviously isn't rewarded for her pains._' he thought of the sparse living conditions, '_But she does maintain an acceptable home. She isn't a pauper clearly. She seems intelligent and capable.'_

The great demon shook his head to dispel any further curiosity. Satisfied that he was once again alone, he closed his eyes and directed his energy to healing.

So deep was the youkai's sleep, it wasn't until the door slid open he sensed someone near. His next breath told him the girl had entered the house, and she was bleeding. He closed his eyes again and continued to sniff at the air. He hated being uninformed.

The bleeding was not severe, she was tired, and…

_'Salt water…tears…?'_ he wondered. The girl limped, for it was her leg that was injured, over to the fire and brought it back to life.

"My Lord can't be sleeping….not from the racket I've made." The girl was speaking to him again, "Sorry about that, but I won't be bothered once I'm back in my house. They're afraid of me you see." The black-haired human then changed topics, and Sesshomaru lost interest.

It wasn't until she pulled the screen back and put it away, that Sesshomaru opened his eyes. The girl seemed to have cleaned herself up, she reeked of soap and lye. As she returned to her cabinet and began to clean it and organize things, the golden-eyes demon examined the girl. She was wearing a slightly shorter version of her ankle length blue kimono, and the bandage around her knee was quite obvious. She wasn't limping anymore, so he could only assume the girl had more sense than to favor an injured limb. After all, if one favored an injury it could heal wrong, or take longer to heal. His curiosity was tweaked when he saw the girl's hair was slightly irregular. It had been one length, down her back, but now the right side was shorter, than the rest. It was shortest near her jaw, and sloped down in an easy curve to join the rest. Sesshomaru suppressed a growl of irritation. It wasn't that he cared about the girl, certainly not, but he was possessed of a curiosity that, at times, was unrivaled by any in the world. Now was one of those times.

Deciding the matter to be unimportant, the inu-youkai turned his thoughts to recovery and what would come after. Tokijin was missing and, likely, broken. That would need to be remedied immediately. As he mused about the future, a small sound reached his ears, but, wanting to put curiosity out of his mind, he ignored it. When another, less harmless, noise interrupted his thought he opened his eyes in annoyance. It was only the girl. She was curled in the same place she had been sleeping, as usual. The noise then was merely the girl retiring to sleep. As Sesshomaru looked at the girl, he had the vague thought that maybe Rin would resemble this girl when she grew. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts once more, the recovering lord began to plan once more. As he breathed in the night air, which still carried the scent of mint, the scent of minerals reached his sensitive nose.

'_Salt_…' opening his eyes he looked over at the sleeping girl. Tears were running silently down her cheeks. She did not move, or even cry out. Her face was still and she looked as though she was peacefully asleep. But still the tears continued to flow from under her long eyelashes.

Despite his best efforts Sesshomaru couldn't deny that he was now, very intensely, curious.


	4. Chapter 4

{A/N: Holy smokes….It's been over a year since I updated. You have my sincere apologies. This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers, and in particular to MusicalSoul who likes Original Characters. ^~^ Thank you everyone, and I shall try to be more regular. ^~^}

Mint ch. 4

Raylea awoke with the sun shining on her face. Concealing a yawn, the girl got to her knees and ran her fingers through her long black hair. Inspecting the shorter lengths, Raylea could not help the sigh that escaped her. The whole length may need to be cut to even it out. As her mind woke up and remembered her patient, the young woman looked across the room to where the silver-haired demon lay, obviously awake. She watched him for a moment; it was often she was able to look at the stately demon and not meet those intimidating golden eyes. His features were graceful, perfectly suited to his aloof manner. Raylea restrained a smile at the thought of his perfectly muscled shoulder and chest. Standing, she walked as normally as possible, trying not to favor her injury.

Though he had not slept the remainder of the night, Sesshomaru felt very much recovered now, and knew he could leave whenever he wished. But something restrained him. The girl's silent tears and mysterious wounds had intrigued him.

'_If the girl was attacked, then perhaps she is the victim of a misunderstanding? Do the other humans know she has taken a demon into her household?_' he thought, his mind trying to find some explanation.

'_No. Do not ask questions._' He told himself sternly, '_The last thing I need is another tag-along._' Quite suddenly Sesshomaru's thoughts turned to Rin. Though he had taken great pains to ensure she would be safe while he was gone, Sesshomaru did not want to be away for longer than absolutely necessary. That little human girl was amazingly good at attracting trouble.

'_Jaken and Ah-Un are with her. She is still well; the time has not yet come for me to be late_.' Calming his worry and noting with satisfaction that his wound had closed entirely, the daiyoukai began to repair his armor.

The girl's voice reached Sesshomaru's ears as he rested. Dispersing the thoughts his mind had conjured for the moment, he watched the girl prepare her morning meal. She kept up her chatter as usual, and, as usual, he remained silent. The woman was cleaning up after the meal when Sesshomaru's ears picked up the sound of movement from outside. Thanks to the strong smell of herbs in the home, he couldn't identify any smells from the outside.

"Girl." He called to the female, and as she turned around, clearly startled that he had spoken to her, he looked towards the door. It was only a whim, to let the girl know she was not as observant as she ought to be, but still…

Sesshomaru couldn't deny the very smallest of spasms in his hand as he watched the girl's blue eyes widen. She looked far too much like Rin.

Looking at the door, then back to him, the human moved without a word and replaced the screen from last night. Once again relying on his excellent ears to inform him of the situation, Sesshomaru gathered the visitors were not welcome.

"We heard you had a visitor." A female, younger than the mint girl spoke first; her voice held a nasally sneer. Listening intently, Sesshomaru tried to discern just how many humans were out there.

"Why don't you let us say hello?" a young male identified himself next. With the door open, Sesshomaru was able to catch a few new scents. In one breath he identified eight different humans, all adolescents; many carried the scent of aggression.

'If it comes to a fight the girl will most certainly lose. Eight is too many for her, even if they are younger.' He calculated what he knew of the girl, and the information that was carried in the air, the possible outcome if the situation turned sour. Just then, the girl interrupted his musings as she spoke for herself.

"You may not come in." her voice was commanding and stern, "None of you are ill or inured, so I ask you leave my land at once." Sesshomaru could almost envision the girl standing in the door, at her full height, looming over the impudent children. Her voice reminded him of a time when his mother had taken the same tone with himself and his father. It almost made him smile.

The group of young humans seemed to become uneasy. Many were shuffling their feet, and the demon's sharp ears caught the whispered warnings of spells and magic among the children.

The young male spoke loudly, trying to bolster his companions, "Really? Then why's that screen there? I think you're hiding someone!" Sesshomaru heard the boy take a step forward.

"The screen is there," the girl's voice was low and, to Sesshomaru's ears, carried the definite tone of menace, "because it is not proper for a _boy_ to look upon a woman's bed." The barest of smiles crossed Sesshomaru's face as he listened to the boy retreat, and the breeze carried the scent of their fear into the small house. For a moment, he wondered why the children would be so afraid of her.

The girl's voice interrupted his thoughts; turning dangerously hard, "Now, you will leave my land at once." The amused demon lord had to wonder if the girl was, or had been, something more than a simple peasant healer. The gaggle of miscreants was silent and a few started walking off. Satisfied she had scared them off, the girl had nearly closed the door, when something was thrown at her. Sesshomaru heard it strike something then bounce off the wooden frame of the screen. It landed near his feet.

'_A rock…Blood._' He turned his head back towards the door.

"You act so high and mighty," the boy was yelling, "but you're nothing more than the bastard child of whore!" The door slammed shut amidst derisive laughter. Taking a deep breath, Sesshomaru was almost surprised to find the girl calm. Most humans flew into a rage when their heritage was slandered. The woman stood still until the last of the laughter faded away, then removed the screen, replacing it in the corner. His golden eyes spied the dark spot of red and bruised flesh on the girl's left cheek, and his anger slowly began to simmer. He didn't care for the girl, that much was clear, but such behavior still angered him ever so slightly. From his aristocratic upbringing, Sesshomaru had been taught to never strike someone older than himself, male or female, without due cause. This sort of disrespect, to be blunt, got on his nerves.

"It seems your morning has, once again, been disturbed." She said, smiling at him. Wincing as the action pulled on the injured muscles, the girl inclined her head slightly, "If you'll excuse me a moment." Turning from the reclining demon, she went to her cabinet and sorted through it for a moment, pulling various items out. With her back to him, Sesshomaru took this moment to study this girl, who, through no fault of her own as far as he could tell, was tormented by every human she came in contact with. He looked closely at the girl, looking for the clues that would tell him more about her. She was in good health, if a little tired; but from the way she sat her knee was troubling her, and she was favoring one side of her rib cage.

'_Another bruise perhaps_?' he speculated, '_No matter. I will leave at midday and this will be over and done with._' He decided.

"Sorry you had to listen to that." The girl turned around, her voice cheerful, "I hope you don't mind the screen, but it is for the best."

Acting on a whim, Sesshomaru asked a question, "Where did you learn medicine?" He kept his voice bored, indifferent. A level tone, just to make sure the girl didn't misconstrue his intentions.

'_Which are what?_'

The girl looked mildly surprised, but smiled again anyway, "My mother. She taught me everything she knew. I lived here with her, until her passing a few years ago." She explained. Satisfied with the answer, Sesshomaru looked away, signaling the end of his interest. He was not surprised when the girl kept going.

"She was very kind. She knew so much about the land and what plants were good for you or not. She never turned anyone away who was sick or injured." The girl did not seem to be letting the subject drop, even though her audience appeared to be deaf. "We were very happy together. It is a shame that even though she knew so much Mother still succumbed to disease. She always said, 'There are some things even healers can't cure." The girl smiled sadly, "It's a shame…" Seemingly lost in thought, the girl fell silent.

As midday approached, Sesshomaru contemplated his departure. Deciding it was time; he opened his eyes to locate the girl. She was sitting where she had been earlier, a book in her hand. Shifting ever so slightly so he could rise, he heard the girl stir. Standing, the demon lord did not look at her.

"Are you leaving?" she asked, "If you are, could you spare a moment so that I can remove the stitches?" she looked at him and Sesshomaru could tell she did not expect him to answer 'yes.'

"Be quick." He said shortly, settling himself back down. The girl smiled, the bruise on her cheek pulling at her mouth. From her cabinet she pulled out a small, gleaming knife, and a pair of exceedingly thin chopsticks. Approaching his side, she knelt down.

"If you will my lord?" she said expectantly. Without looking at the girl, the great demon lowered the sleeve of his kimono, exposing the healed wound. As the girl's fingertips brushed his flawless skin, Sesshomaru had to work to keep his face indifferent. Beneath his disgust, he heard the distinct thought.

'_That is pleasant.'_

After a few minutes, the white thread slid easily out from the healed flesh. The girl set her instruments down then, unafraid, ran her fingers over the tiny holes, making sure the skin was not rough or patchy, as that would indicate infection.

"These will close in no time and you will– " The girl paused in her speech, as Sesshomaru smirked inwardly. Before her eyes the area in question healed completely. Before the demon lord could move away, the girl's soft fingers were once again, brushing across his shoulder.

"Well, I guess 'no time' isn't a figure of speech for demons." She said with a smile, withdrawing her hands, "Since it seems there is not infection or lingering injury, I give you a clean bill of health." She announced happily. Gathering her tools and the discarded thread, the healer stood and moved away.

In one graceful motion, Sesshomaru was on his feet and moving towards the door. As he opened the door he could feel the girl watching him. Pausing only a moment, he didn't look back as he said, "Your skills are adequate."

Moving away from the small home, Sesshomaru took a deep breath, trying to clear his nose of the scent of mint. Leaping into the air, the daiyoukai moved across the land like quick silver, leaving the human standing in the doorway of her home staring after him.


End file.
